Flash mob takes performance art to new heights

Members of three amateur choirs stage a flash-mob performance at the China World Trade Center in Beijing.

A flash-mob scene usually features simple and brief physical actions, but the food-court production represented a new, professional level. It took four months of joint effort by three amateur choirs in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. It also features Meng Nan, a star contestant at the Voice of China, and live show recording equipment. The performance was then made into a film by a professional team that produces TV commercials and music videos.

"A concert can have at most, thousands of people as an audience. And they don't always turn out to be touching. Isn't it better to deliver the warmth through our video to much more people at a much lower cost?" organizer Li Jian-fu says.

Video: Flash-mob performance in Beijing

A former singer in Taiwan and now CEO of a Shanghai-based IT company, Li and his friends got their inspiration after seeing a man in Europe perform opera in a coffee house. They soon assembled their flash mob choir in Taiwan and did their first performance in Taipei 101 Tower, which created a stir online on both the island and the Chinese mainland.

Bringing it to Beijing was a bigger challenge. During the four months of preparations, according to the vice-director of CWTC mall Jing Chun, the three teams - the original one in Taipei and two participating choirs in Beijing - communicated with each other through the Internet and had their first secret rehearsal just three nights before the performance.

"It's sort of surprising that when they first jointly rehearsed, they smoothly went through the whole performance twice within one hour," Jing says.

After two acclaimed performances, Li was approached by various companies who wanted to piggyback on their success. But he refused them all.

"One thing they don't seem to understand is that, we're not doing this for business purposes. We purely want to give people happiness and warmth," Li says.